Worse than GFC. Nobody is buying. Lower prices! Your house isn’t worth 50% more than 4 years ago.

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It’s not a strike because that implies a choice. The average family simply can not afford the average house today. The only people buying are current homeowners or the fairly well off. First-time buyers are absolutely screwed and this isn’t healthy or sustainable.

Pending home sales tick lower in July as canceled contracts spike

In a frozen luxury housing market, buyers are asking to ‘try before you buy’ and having sleepovers in multimillion-dollar mansions

Buyers Strike: Pending Home Sales Drop Further, Plunge in Midwest, Near Record Lows in All Regions, as Supply Balloons

Demand in the housing market sagged further: Pending home sales dropped by 0.4% in July from June, seasonally adjusted. They have now spent nearly three years crawling along, or setting, record lows, according to data going back to 2010 from the National Association of Realtors today (historic data in the chart via YCharts):

It’s even worse: the cancellation rate. Pending sales are based on contract signings and track deals that haven’t closed yet and could still get canceled because buyers cannot afford or even get homeowner’s insurance, or for other reasons. Signed contracts that then get cancelled are included in the pending sales here, but are not included in closed sales reported later.